Teen Co-Occurring Disorder Treatment

Teen Co-Occurring Disorder Description:

One of the pillars of the Paradigm San Francisco difference is the careful attention and care we give in identifying and treating Co-Occurring Disorders. Research shows that it’s extremely common for teens who are struggling with a mental illness to also be struggling with substance abuse. This is called a Co-Occurring Disorder and makes up about 60% of the teens who have a Mental Health illness, such as Depression, Anxiety, or an Eating Disorder. Unfortunately, very often what happens in treatment is only a handful of outward symptoms are considered and so once the teen is hastily diagnosed, a fairly narrow and automatic treatment plan is designed, which can often leave important other health concerns virtually unaddressed. This of course results in ineffective, incomplete treatment that leaves teens extremely vulnerable to relapse and/or continued struggles.

Teen Co-Occurring Disorder Symptoms:

The development of Co-Occurring Disorders can happen in both orders. Sometimes, teens suffering from a Mental Illness turn to drugs or alcohol as a means of numbing and/or escaping their feelings and other times, drug or alcohol abuse can trigger the onset of mental health symptoms. Moreover, the symptoms of both mental health and substance abuse conditions can be similar and even overlap. For both of these reasons, diagnosis of Co-Occurring Disorders can be difficult to identify and require special attention.

Teen Co-Occurring Disorder Treatment:

The first step in successful teen co-occurring disorder treatment is a thorough diagnostic process that takes careful consideration of all different aspects of the teen as a person, and not just present symptoms. Because, as mentioned, symptoms between conditions can overlap, diagnosis and treatment design based solely on symptoms can be extremely narrow-sighted.

Following diagnosis, at Paradigm San Francisco we also pride ourselves in addressing Co-Occurring Disorders from a holistic standpoint, as one aspect of teens’ overall current experiences, feelings, thoughts, goals, strengths, and interests. By considering teens as unique individuals and not just a set of symptoms, we’re able to carefully tailor teen co-occurring disorder treatment sessions and goals so that all different areas of the teens’ lives are addressed. By doing teen co-occurring disorder treatment in this way, we’re much more able to ensure that we’re not missing important factors which need to be addressed. Along these lines, it’s worth noting that beyond working to address teens’ symptoms, struggles, and behaviors, we always design treatment to help teens explore and identify the deeper emotional experiences that are present and which may be connected to the mental health and substance abuse issues. Overall, the bottom line is we set out to design and implement treatment that addresses all teens individually, and do everything we can to help them recover in every single aspect of their lives, so that they can go on to be their healthiest and happiest selves.

Paradigm San Francisco:

At Paradigm San Francisco, we provide adolescent treatment for Co-Occurring Disorders and specialize in holistic therapy. By drawing from a number of different therapeutic approaches, at Paradigm San Francisco we’re able to tailor treatment according to the individual teen and provide individual therapy sessions very day, while teens are in treatment. Paradigm San Francisco is one of the leading teen treatment centers in the United States.